Arthur Max

Arthur Max (born May 1, 1946) is an American production designer.

Biography The native New Yorker began his career as a stage lighting designer in the music industry following graduation from New York University in the late 1960s. Those assignments included work at Bill Graham's famous music venue The Fillmore East in New York's East Village, and the historic Woodstock Festival of 1969. During the following decade, he designed concert lighting and festival stages for many rock and jazz artists. He was Pink Floyd's lighting designer during the bands' tours in the US and worldwide in the early-1970s. After studying architecture in England (earning degrees in the early-1980s from the Polytechnic of Central London and the Royal College of Art), Max went on to do several architectural design projects in London including an award-winning lighting design for the stage of St John's Concert Hall, a former 18th Century church in the centre of Smith Square, Westminster, London.

He entered the British film industry as an assistant to several English production designers. First for Stuart Craig on Hugh Hudson's Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and Cal (both 1984), then for Ashetton Gorton on Hudson's Revolution the following year. He commenced his own production design career in TV commercials for ten years from 1985 to 1995 (for such clients as Pepsi, Nike, Jeep, Coke and Levi's), which led to his ongoing associations with directors Scott and Fincher.

Awards Max has been nominated for four Academy Awards: once each for his Production Design work on Gladiator (2000), American Gangster (2007), The Martian (2015) and Napoleon (2023). In addition to his Oscar nominations, Max won several other honors for his production design on the film, including the BAFTA, the National Board of Review prize and the Broadcast Film Critics honor. He also collected two "Excellence in Production Design" Awards from the Art Directors Guild, the first for Gladiator and the second for The Martian. He was previously nominated for Black Hawk Down, Robin Hood, American Gangster, Prometheus and Panic Room. After The Martian, Max worked on All the Money in the World (2017) Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Counselor, Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood, Black Hawk Down and Body of Lies. His first job as a production designer was Fincher's 1995 thriller, Seven. More recently, he completed The Last Vermeer, which was based on a true story of art forgery, set in Holland just after World War II, and The Last Duel, a medieval drama made in France and Ireland. Subsequently, he worked on House of Gucci, filmed on location in Italy, and Napoleon, an historical epic about the rise and fall of Napoleon Buonaparte, made in Malta and the UK. His most recent project was Gladiator II, shot in Morocco and Malta, marking his 16th project with director Ridley Scott.

Filmography Year Title Director Notes 1995 Seven David Fincher 1997 G.I. Jane Ridley Scott 2000 Gladiator Won - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period or Fantasy FilmNominated - Academy Award for Best Production DesignWon - BAFTA Award for Best Production DesignWon - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Production Design 2001 Black Hawk Down Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film 2002 Panic Room David Fincher Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film 2005 Kingdom of Heaven Ridley Scott Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design 2007 American Gangster Nominated - Academy Award for Best Art DirectionNominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film 2008 Body of Lies 2010 Robin Hood Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film 2012 Prometheus Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Film 2013 The Counselor 2014 Exodus: Gods and Kings 2015 The Martian Won - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary FilmNominated - Academy Award for Best Production DesignNominated - BAFTA Award for Best Production Design 2017 All the Money in the World 2019 The Last Vermeer Dan Friedkin 2021 The Last Duel Ridley Scott House of Gucci Nominated - Set Decorators Society of America Award for Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Period Feature Film 2023 Napoleon Nominated - Academy Award for Best Production DesignNominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period FilmNominated - Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production DesignNominated - Set Decorators Society of America Award for Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Period Feature Film. 2024 Gladiator II Won - British Film Designers Guild Award - Major Motion Picture - PeriodWon - 29th Satellite Awards - Best Art Direction and Production Design